The casting of Aaron Pierre adds new dimensions to a familiar premise, but it's unclear whether this benefits the story or the audience.

Many films have been made about soldiers whose skills no longer suit them when they return to civilian life. Some treat these differences with empathy and insight, but more often than not they exploit them for explosive, empty action sequences. "Rebel Ridge" usually falls superficially into the latter category.

Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier (“Green Room”), the film’s focus on a black soldier adds a level of complexity to the conflicts that erupt between him and local law enforcement in a small, predominantly white town. But if racial politics (cinematic and otherwise) prompt Saulnier to treat him marginally more thoughtfully than most filmmaking veterans, the filmmaker’s commitments to genre formula overshadow those differences by the time the final empty, explosive action scene has unfolded.

Aaron Pierre ("Genius: MLK/X") plays Terry Richmond, a veteran of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) who is knocked off his bike and pulled over by two police officers, Marston (David Denman) and Lann (Emory Cohen), while traveling to the town of Shelby Springs to post bail for his nephew Mike (CJ LeBlanc). Marston and Lann confiscate the $36,000 in his backpack, indicating that he can appeal to get it back in a few weeks — a delay that will send Mike to prison, as the deadline for payment is the end of the day. Undaunted, he heads to the Shelby Springs police station to report Marston and Lann for stealing his money. But before Terry can finalize his claim, Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson) steps in and offers him a last-minute chance to see Mike before he's wheeled off to prison.